Concept cars are a sneak peak at the future of a car company's engineering and design. The Mercedes-Benz F800 Style sedan is both. It has both sleek and gorgeous styling and a revolutionary new "multi-drive" platform that can accommodate either a fuel cell or a plug-in hybrid powertrain.
The shape and styling indicates what you will see in the next-generation CLS sedans -- which I happen to think is the absolutely best-looking luxury sedan on the road today. This 'nextgen' design was shown at the 2010 Detroit Auto Show, in January. The big news now is what's under the hood.
The five-passenger Mercedes-Benz F800 Style being shown at the 2010 Geneva Auto Show is outfitted with a 300-horespower, direct-injected gasoline V6 engine, a 109-hp electric motor, and a seven-speed automatic transmission. Mercedes says the hybrid powertrain provides 0-60 acceleration in 4.7 seconds, and a top speed of 155 mph. On pure electric power, the F800 has a claimed top speed of 75 mph, but with a limited range of just 18 miles -- on pure electric power. The lithium-ion battery pack can be recharged from household current or a local charging station.
Mercedes says it can plug in its F-Cell technology (sorry -- I couldn't resist that pun) to the F800, bundling a 136-hp, rear-drive electric motor that generates 214 pound-feet of torque with a fuel cell stack. Range on this version is said to be nearly 375 miles. Mercedes showed its F-Cell B-Class car at the 2009 Frankfurt Auto Show, which I attended.
The F800 also features a touchpad command for dashboard menu fuctions such as climate, audio, phone and navigation, instead of cumbersome dials and buttons that take our attention away from the road, otherwise known as driver distraction. A camera in the cabin records how your hand moves on the pad, and the on-board computer figures out for you what you want.
The Mercedes-Benz F800 Style concept has conventional hinged front doors, but rear doors slide open like a minivan -- this would be a first for sedans, if it actually goes into production. Inside, the seats are made of lightweight magnesium and carbon-fiber.
Edmonds.com Inside Line says the F800 Style proves that environmental friendliness is not limited to small cars.
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very very nice
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